In Theory... | Bitcointalksearch.org

empoweoqwj

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Quote from: SilverandBitcoins on January 11, 2014, 06:37:19 PM

In Theory I can copy the wallet.dat file from the Bitcoin QT program on my desktop to a thumb drive and if my desktop blows up I can get back into the wallet by re-downloading Bitcoin QT on another computer and placing the wallet.dat file from the thumb drive into the new program, correct? Could it be an old .dat file, or should it have been updated with each wallet transaction?

Yes, you should back up as Rannasha said if you are using Bitcoin-QT

If you were using electrum, the wallet file never needs backing up, you just have to remember the passphrase

AmericanBit

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yeah of course, thats like one of the badass things about bitcoin.

Rannasha

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Quote from: SilverandBitcoins on January 11, 2014, 06:37:19 PM

In Theory I can copy the wallet.dat file from the Bitcoin QT program on my desktop to a thumb drive and if my desktop blows up I can get back into the wallet by re-downloading Bitcoin QT on another computer and placing the wallet.dat file from the thumb drive into the new program, correct? Could it be an old .dat file, or should it have been updated with each wallet transaction?

Bitcoin-qt generates addresses in batches of 100. A new address is used every time you request a new receiving address in the program and every time you send a transaction that has change.

So to be safe, you should create a new backup after every 100 (transactions sent + new receiving addresses created), or more frequently.

But with these considerations taken into account, then yes, you can use the backup file to completely restore your wallet if your computer fails.

SilverandBitcoins

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In Theory I can copy the wallet.dat file from the Bitcoin QT program on my desktop to a thumb drive and if my desktop blows up I can get back into the wallet by re-downloading Bitcoin QT on another computer and placing the wallet.dat file from the thumb drive into the new program, correct? Could it be an old .dat file, or should it have been updated with each wallet transaction?

Topic: In Theory... (Read 643 times)